Meghalaya is a state in northeast India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills and (b) the Garo Hills. The population of Meghalaya as of 2014 is estimated to be 3,211,474. Meghalaya covers an area of approximately 22,429 square kilometres, with a length-to-breadth ratio of about 3:1.
Khasi is an Austroasiatic language with just over a million speakers in north-east India, primarily the Khasi people in the state of Meghalaya. It has associate official status in some districts of this state. The closest relatives of Khasi are the other languages in the Khasic group of the Shillong Plateau; these include Pnar, Lyngngam and War.
Shillong is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a state in northeastern India. It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the 330th most populous city in India with a population of 143,229 according to the 2011 census. It is said that the rolling hills around the town reminded the British of Scotland. Hence, they would also refer to it as the "Scotland of the East".
The Khasi people are an ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. Khasi people form the majority of the population of the eastern part of Meghalaya, that is Khasi Hills, constituting 78.3% of the region's population, and is the state's largest community, with around 48% of the population of Meghalaya. They are among the few Austroasiatic-speaking peoples in South Asia. The Khasi tribe holds the distinction of being one of the few remaining matriarchal tribes of the world. Under the Constitution of India, the Khasis have been granted the status of Scheduled Tribe.
East Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Shillong. The district occupies an area of 2752 km² and has a population of 825,922. As of 2011, it is the most populous district of Meghalaya's 12 districts.
West Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India.
Cherrapunji or Sohra is a sub-divisional town East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It was the traditional capital of ka hima Sohra.
The Khasi Hills are a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in the Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connect with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. The Khasi Hills, and the whole Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range, are in the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion.
The Jaintia Kingdom was a matrilineal kingdom in present-day some parts of Bangladesh's Sylhet Division, India's Meghalaya state and Nagaon, Morigoan district of Assam. It was partitioned into three in 630 AD by Raja Guhak for his three sons, into the Jaintia Kingdom, Gour Kingdom and Laur Kingdom. It was annexed by the British East India Company in 1835. All the Khasi (Pnar) Rajahs of the Jaintiapur Kingdom are from the Syiem Sutnga clan, a Pnar clan of the Khasi tribe which claims descent from Ka Li Dohkha, a divine nymph.
Nohkalikai Falls is the tallest plunge waterfall in India. Its height is 340 metres (1,115 ft). The waterfall is located in the Indian state of Meghalaya, near Cherapunji, one of the wettest places on Earth. Nohkalikai Falls are fed by the rainwater collected on the summit of a comparatively small plateau and decrease in power during the dry season, from December to February. Below the falls is a plunge pool with water of an unusual shade of green.
Laitkynsew is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya State, in north-eastern India. It is perhaps best known for its living root bridges. The Umnnoi living root bridge, known locally as Jingkieng Deingjri, which means 'bridge of the rubber tree', is 53 feet long and over 100 years old. The Ka Likai waterfall, near the neighboring village of Nongriat, can best be seen from Laitkynsew, and the monsoon season in autumn is the most impressive time to view it.
Nongriat is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya State, in north-eastern India. It is perhaps best known for its living root bridges; one an impressive double-decker suspension bridge called Jingkieng Nongriat. The village has three functional root bridges. These are crafted by hand, as the Khasi people have done in the Khasi Hills for centuries, intertwining and weaving together the aerial roots of banyan trees on opposite sides of a stream-filled gorge. Jingkieng Nongriat, better known simply as Double Decker, has been featured on international television programs such as the Human Planet series filmed in 2008 by BBC Wales, and a documentary by Osamu Monden in June 2004 for Asahi TV in Japan. There is another functioning living root bridge upstream from Nongriat, along with a hybrid structure that is made from both roots and steel wire.
Tyrna is a village in the East Khasi Hills district of Meghalaya State, in north-eastern India. A succession of stone steps connect the community with neighboring village of Nongriat, just below the Cherrapunji-Laitkynsew bridle path.
Cornelis Marinus Pleyte was a Dutch museum curator, Dutch East Indies subject-matter expert, teacher, and author. He was notable for his classification work on neolithic Indonesian adzes.
Dkhar, is a term used by the Khasis to refer to non-Khasi people in Meghalaya. It is non derogatory but some perceived it as derogatory. For Khasis any non-tribal is a dkhar and they address them by that term. Sometimes the word dkhar have been collectively used with the term heathen (Non-believers), as most of the native Khasis are christian, While non-tribals are mainly hindu. In real, the term is mostly used against affluent Bengali Hindu settlers from West Bengal or the Bengali Hindu refugees from erstwhile East Pakistan It is sometimes abbreviated to ′Khar and may also denote a Khasi clan with the same name.
Bisnakandi Picnic Point
John Brampton Gurdon, known as Brampton Gurdon, was a British Liberal Party and Whig politician.
The Elephant Falls are a two-tier waterfall in Shillong, Meghalaya, India. The mountain stream descends through two successive falls set in dells of fern-covered rocks.
Pynursla Legislative Assembly constituency is one of the 60 Legislative Assembly constituencies of Meghalaya state in India. It is part of East Khasi Hills district and is reserved for candidates belonging to the Scheduled Tribes. It is named after the Pynursla.
The Seng Khasi movement began in Mawkhar, Shillong on Nov 23rd 1899. The Seng Khasi is a socio cultural organisation formed to protect and preserve the Khasi culture and religion - Niam Khasi - from the forces of change brought by the British. It was founded by 16 young Khasi men under the guidance and mentorship of U Babu Jeebon Roy, an educationist, entrepreneur and advocate of indigenous beliefs and culture of the time. The sixteen founders were concerned about the loss of traditional Khasi culture and values due to the influence of British colonial rule and Christian missionaries.
